Arizona Hiking: The White Tank Mountains...

Just before Thanksgiving, Ken and I went on a little vacation to Arizona.  We have had a stressful few months and both needed to get away.  What better thing to do than to escape to sunshine and hiking?

We stayed in Surprise so that we could see a friend of ours.  The White Tank Mountains happen to be right next door, so we set out for a little exploring.

We took off with the intention to do a 7 mile hike on the Mesquite Trail.  Yes, that was our intention, but someone left the map in the car.  That someone might have blonde hair, be 4'10, and answer to the name Keri.  Oops.  Not to worry, we made it out just fine.  No one was hurt and we lived to tell about it.  We had plenty of water and dum dums.

Ready for a full morning of hiking!

We started off our hike in the shade, slowly making our way up hill.  One of my favorite things about hiking in the dessert is getting to see all of the cacti. I love me a good cactus.  Our favorite cactus happens to be the Sonoran cactus, which we saw at every turn on this hike.

I heart cacti

Ken hearts the desert

We made it to a fork in the trail and Ken wanted to go to the right, which meant we got onto a different trail to take us back to the car.  There was some discussion about the map being left in the car, but ultimately, the person that left the map in the car had also memorized the trail distances.  We carried on and I told Ken we would end up hiking 12 miles.  Not exactly the 7 mile hike we had planned on but tomato - tomat-o.  

One thing that we were not counting on was the fact that we would be scaling rocks and taking super huge steps.  The funniest part was when we came across some hikers going the opposite direction and they commented on the lack of assistance that Ken was providing me.  Ken and I both laughed about it and he told the guy that I was fine on my own and only get irritated when he helps.  This is only partly true.  They were some big steps!

Me celebrating that I did not break an ankle or leg coming down the steep stuff.

It was super steep!

My cute hiking partner.  For once his hand is on his hip and he is still smiling.  

Obviously we had to get a picture with our beloved cacti.  No way around that one!

Finally after what seemed like forever scaling boulders, we made it to the flat section and then were soon approaching the car.  After a 12 mile hike, we made our way for burgers and beers.  It was a successful day.

A pair of happy hikers